Tropical Cyclone Joyce makes landfall on Australia's Pilbara Coast

NOAA's JPSS-1 satellite provided a visible image of the tropical storm after it made landfall along the Pilbara Coast in the northwestern part of Western Australia.

On Jan. 12, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) posted warnings from Sandfire to De Grey, and inland parts of the northeast Pilbara including Marble Bar. A Blue Alert is in effect for people in areas south of Wallal Downs to De Grey and inland to Marble Bar. That means that residents in those areas need to prepare for cyclonic weather and organize an emergency kit including first aid kit, torch, portable radio, spare batteries, food and water.

On Jan. 12 at 12:36 a.m. EST (0536 UTC) NOAA's JPSS-1 or NOAA-20 satellite showed Joyce's compact center along the coast and bands of thunderstorms wrapping into the center were mostly east and south of the center over Western Australia.

At 10 a.m. EST (1500 UTC) on Jan. 12 the Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued their final warning on Tropical Cyclone Joyce. At that time Joyce had maximum sustained winds near 45 knots (51.7 mph/83.3 kph). It was centered near 20.7 degrees south latitude and 119.4 degrees east longitude. That's about 68 nautical miles east of Port Hedland, Australia. It was moving to the southwest at 8 knots (9.2 mph/14.8 kph).

Port Hedland radar imagery showed moderate to heavy precipitation bands with a central vortex just east of the station.

ABM said Joyce should weaken as it tracks to the southwest through the Pilbara. Joyce is expected to dissipate after a day or so.

ABM noted "Gusty winds and heavy rainfall is likely to continue near the track of the system over the weekend. Widespread daily rainfall totals of around 50 to 100 mm are expected, with isolated heavier falls of 100-250 mm possible near the system center."

NOAA-20, designated JPSS-1 prior to launch, is the first of NOAA's latest generation of U.S. polar-orbiting, non-geosynchronous, environmental satellites called the Joint Polar Satellite System. NOAA-20 was launched on November 18, 2017 and joined the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite in the same orbit.

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